Rotatable Wheel Grid Arms for Variable Track Width Towing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional wheel grids face challenges in accommodating a wide range of track widths and tire sizes, leading to potential damage or difficulty in towing vehicles with smaller or larger tires due to fixed design constraints.
Innovation Solution
A wheel grid design featuring a crossbar with cantilevered portions and rotatable L-arms that can adjust to engage tires effectively, allowing for a stowed position that reduces interference and accommodates varying tire sizes by shortening the distance from the pivot point to the wheel brace member, enabling the wheel grid to support vehicles with both narrower and wider track widths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the wheel grid uses a fixed design with standard L-arm length, then the structure is simple and easy to manufacture, but it cannot accommodate vehicles with different track widths and tire sizes
Solution Approach 1:
The L-arm is made rotatable at the pivot point, transforming the fixed structure into a dynamic one. This allows the wheel grid to adapt to different track widths by rotating the L-arm to appropriate angles, while maintaining structural simplicity through a single degree of freedom rotation mechanism
Solution Approach 2:
The L-arm is divided into functionally distinct segments: the extension member that positions the wheel brace, and the wheel brace member itself that contacts the tire. This segmentation allows independent optimization of each component's function while enabling adaptive positioning through rotation
2Adaptability or versatility
If the L-arm extension member is positioned far from the pivot point, then it can reach wider track widths, but it increases interference with the cantilevered portion during stowed position rotation
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable L-arm design allows dynamic adjustment of the extension member's angular position. During stowed rotation, the L-arm can be positioned at an angle that clears the cantilevered portion, eliminating interference while still achieving wide track width coverage when deployed
Solution Approach 2:
The solution moves the problem from a linear distance constraint to an angular positioning solution. By rotating the L-arm in the vertical plane, the extension member can achieve the necessary horizontal reach without creating interference, effectively using a different dimensional approach (angular vs. linear)
3Adaptability or versatility
If the wheel grid is designed for larger tires, then it can handle bigger vehicles, but it causes difficulty and potential damage when towing vehicles with smaller tires
Solution Approach 1:
The rotatable L-arm allows the wheel brace member to be positioned at optimal angles for different tire sizes. This dynamic adjustment ensures proper engagement geometry regardless of tire diameter, preventing damage from improper contact while maintaining versatility across vehicle types
Data Source
AI summary
A wheel grid includes a crossbar configured to be coupled to a boom of a tow vehicle, the crossbar extending in a lateral direction from a centerline to a distal tip, and an L-arm rotatably coupled to the crossbar at a proximal end of the L-arm and configured to rotate about a rotation axis from an engaged position to a stowed position. As the L-arm rotates from the engaged position to the stowed position, the L-arm intersects with a line parallel to the rotation axis and passing through the distal tip of the crossbar. In the stowed position, an entirety of the L-arm is positioned closer than the distal tip of the crossbar to the centerline of the crossbar in the lateral direction.